Madeleine McCann: Portuguese authorities make German man ‘formal suspect’

Statement could mean that Christian Brueckner is transferred to Portugal for questioning

Madeleine McCann disappeared from a beach resort in Portugal in May 2007 (Getty Images)

Portuguese authorities have named the German national linked by police to the disappearance of Madeleine McCann as a “formal suspect”.

Christian Brueckner, 44, was first identified as a murder suspect by German prosecutors in June 2020. However, he has not been charged since.

Investigators believe that Brueckner, a convicted sex offender, may have killed Madeleine, who was three-years-old at the time of her disappearance, after abducting her from a holiday apartment in Praia da Luz in May 2007.

The Portimao section of the Faro department of criminal investigation and prosecution issued a statement on Thursday which, according to a translation, says that a person was made an “arguido” – which translates as “named suspect” or “formal suspect” – one day prior.

The statement does not in fact name the 44-year-old, but says the person was made an “arguido” by German authorities and that it was at the request of Portugal’s public prosecution service.

This move by Portuguese authorities could mean that Brueckner, who is in prison in Germany, may be transferred to the Algarve for formal questioning.

German newspaper Bild reported Brueckner’s lawyer, Friedrich Fuelscher, saying the Portuguese decision seemed to be a “procedural trick”.

According to reports, the move could be linked to the country’s statute of limitations, which does not generally allow crimes which carry a maximum prison sentence to be prosecuted over 15 years from when they were committed.

This would mean that after 3 May this year, Brueckner would no longer be able to be charged in Portugal. Brueckner has denied being involved in the disappearance of Madeleine.

Brueckner who is referred to as Christian B in Germany, due to the country’s strict privacy laws, was found guilty in 2019 of the 2005 rape of a 72-year-old American woman in Praia da Luz.

He was sentenced to seven years in jail, at a court in Brunswick, Lower Saxony, for the offence.

A federal court in Karlsruhe, in southwest Germany, rejected a November 2020 appeal against the conviction.

Candles next to a photo of Madeleine McCann inside the Church of Nossa Senhora da Luz in Praia da Luz (PA Archive)

According to the statement, the investigation has been carried out with the cooperation of both the English and the German authorities.

Currently in the UK, Madeleine’s disappearance is being treated by the Metropolitan Police as a missing persons inquiry.

In Portuguese law, an arguido status can be seen as an initial move, prior to an arrest being made or charges being brought.